The Development of Psychological Thought in the Philippines” Virgilio G, Enriquez Tinalakey ang direksyon ng pag-unlad ng sikolohiya sa Pilipinas. Binigyang pansin ang kasaysayan batay sa kontekstong kolonyal ng Pilipinas at ang mga samahan na tumutulong sa pagpapalawak at ‘pagpapaunlad ng Sikolohiya sa Pilipinas at Sikolohiyang Pilipino. ‘Tinukoy din ang mge pangunahing katangian ng Sikolohiyang Pili- pino bilang isang katutubong sikolohiya sa Asya. Psychology as an academic discipline and profession in Asia is usually viewed as continuous with the development of psycho- logy in the West. Historians of psychology usually begin their accounts with the establishment of the experimental psychology laboratory in 1879 by Wilhelm Wundth in Leipzig, Germany. However, psychology has its own traditional roots in Asia, One finds psychology in the practice of the babaylan and catelonan in the Philippines, or the bomoh in Malaysia. But just the same, most academic departments of psychology in Asian universities tend to adopt theories, methods and practices from their Western counterparts. It is only lately that more and more Asian psycho- logists get to be aware of the need to contextualize Asian psycho- logy. Contextualization took the form of decolonization and indigenization in the Philippines. *Mula sa Growth of rycholony in Asian Cotes ‘The Philippines. Ulat a $1 Southeast Asian Studies Program, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore. 149PSYCHOLOGY IN THE PHILIPPINE COLONIAL CONTEXT Philippine colonial education fosters the belief that scientific Psychology in the country is a Western creation; a process which supposedly started soon after Commodore George Dewey won the mock battle of Manila Bay. ‘To begin with, undergraduate psychology couses beyond the introductory course wore tanght in the College of Education, University of the Philippines, using American textbooks and the English language as meditin of instruction less than a decade after the university itself was es tablished in 1908 with Murray Bartlett, an American, ag frst president, At the time, Spanish had not altogether given way to English; literary writiag in. the Filipino Tanguage was on the ascendancy, and the so-called Filipina essay ‘in English” was still a Mledsling effort, a trace of a struggle between the Hispanic and the indigenous in an attempt to approximate idiomatic English. As Americans gave psychology lectures in the university, the goodwill of many upper and middle-class Filipinos was being won gradually by Governor-General Francis Burton Harrison's policy of attraction. Agustin Algnzo: ratory Animals Early American Psychology Minus the Labo- ‘The early influence of American education and the colonial culture on Philippine psychology took concrete form in the person ‘of Agustin Alonzo, Harrizon’s policy of Filipinization and five years of training with advanced psychology paved the way for Alonzo to assume the psychology chair in the state university. To be sure, personnel indigenization annoyed the American comimunity in the Philippines but personnel indigenization was acttally a practical policy for the Americans because it costed less to hire a Filipino, Critical positions were of course reserved for the American colonial administrators but the chairmanship of the psychology department of the state university was not considered a “critical” position then or now, The end of the Harrisonnian era in 1921 (Agoncillo 1974: 28) marked the com- pletion of the first M.A. Psychology thesis in English written by Alonzo at the University of the Philippines. Right after completing 150 his M.A. requirements in 1922, Alonzo proceeded to the Univer- sity of Chicago where he received his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology. It was no accident that he initially worked on a peopleoriented: thesis, on the psychology of fecling, while in Manila, but shifted to the mechanistic determinism of rat psycho- in the American midwest. In spite of Edward Lee Thom. influence, Alonzo somehow came through with his gentle handling of rats in a maze to provide “manual guidance” to his laboratory ‘animals, Alonzo’s conscious experience as an Asian in a White midwestern city impelled him to work for fellow foreign students towards the establishment of the Intemational Centre at the University-of Chicago, Filipino scholars later passed through the University of Chicago's International Gentre and enjoyed its facilities hardly realizing that Alonzo’s efforts led to the centre’s creation, Likewise, Alonzo’s pivotal role in carly American colonial psychology in the Philippines passed unnoticed as he passed away in 1981, Of course, neither Alonzo nor the Americans should be credited with the introduction of Western psychology to the Philippines. To be sure, psicologia was not unheard of in the Philippines at the time the American senate ratified the Treaty of Paris, thus legitimizing American annexation of the island, In fact, the Filipino term sikolohiya was derived from the Spanish psicologia and the term itself was already a part of the layman’s vocabulary even if the spelling was standardized much later, However, what matters -most to the “Philippine-psychology-as- an-American-ereation” teorists is what they perceive as a dif- ference in kind between Spanish rational psychology and Ame- rican behavioral psychology. After all, one can credibly argue that rational psychology is a form of philosophy, and as such, appro- priately in the realm of speculative thought, Similarly, the psycho- logical treatises of Plasencia and Delgado were not meant for the indios who now call themselves Filipinos. The works of Jacinto, del Pilar, and Pardo de Tavera are rich sources of psychological theories and insights but they were mainly propagandists and pot psychologists. Besides, it took more than two centuries from its founding in 1611 before the University of Santo Tomas changed its admission policy to accommodate Filipinos; it was not their 151mission to teach Thomistie psychology to the indios. And in all likelihood, the psicologos del verbo Tagalog, referred to by Emilio Aguinaldo in his inaugural specch as president of the Birst Philip. pine Republic, were not Ph.D. (Psychology) degree holders any- way. Neither were del Pilar and Jacinto, Heroes of the revolution, they were, but certified psychologists, they were not. If we must demand credentials from Emilio Aguinaldo’s psicologos then let us ask the same of William McKinley's “psy- chologists.” Historians tell us that no less than the president of the United States of America, William McKinley, justified his venture to the Philippines on the basis of a dream and divine inspiration which impelled him to send soldiers to the Philippines to civilize and Christianize the islanders. The English language ‘and the American system of education proved to be the most efficient instruments for the noble purpose. In fact, the first American teachers of psychology in the Philippines were not trained in psychology. To be sure, they spoke English and ad- ministered psychological tests but that was not good enough to dislodge rational psychology which held sway in the Philippine psychological scene at the time. The Pontifical University of Santo Tomas was not named after Thomas Aquinas for nothing, Just the: same, William Howards Taft's move to impose English a5 the medium of instruction in the Philippines was the single masterful strake which quite conveniently transferred the burden of developing psychology as a discipline in the Philippines from the hands of the Spanish-speaking friars, to the shoulders of native American speakers of English. But not for long. The colonial masters Teserved the position of minister of Education for an American national as a holdout even as they intensified the prag- matic pursuit of the policy of personnel indigenization at lower levels, ‘The American teachers of psychology, in the twenties were gradually, but soon cnough, replaced by a new breed of Filipino teachers, The new teachers were unfortunately trained in fields other than psychology, just like their American pre decessors. As late as the sixties, we find instructors armed with a copy of an American textbook and a background in English Literature, Education or Law, handling undergraduate psychology courses. They all had one thing in common: they could lecture in 152 reasonably good English naman, ' ‘The “Philippine-psychology-as-an-American-creation Theory”, has a sizeable number of adherents. The “theory” has no name because it is less a theory than an unchallenged assumption in the minds of American-trained Filipino psychologists. The strong version of the “theory” states that Americans brought psychology to the Philippines together with the blessings of civilization and democracy. If we must believe this claim then psychology as a science and profession was a “factory-sealed” impertat the West, from theory to method and application, inclu the appurtenances that go with psychological practice. McKinley’s divine inspiration and ‘‘Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation” in December 1898 worked much too: well for psychology that even four scores later, Filipino psychologists travel and train in American centers of learning as Filipino Mus- lims travel to Mecca. A Maranao gladly risks his life to become a haji but would a Filipino psychologist risk anything, much less lose his anima by regularly and devotedly going to Harvard? Losing one’s life is, tangible; losing the “indigenous psyche” is not even easy to comprehend. iS I ‘The establishment of psychology in the Philippines according to the “straight-from-America” theory was rather fast and easy. No resistance was met and problems were minimal. Thanks to the efficiency of the American colonial administration: it did not take too long for American style Western psychology to take hold in Philippine soil. To borrow a word from the historian Renato Constantino (1975), the ‘‘miseducation” of Filipino psychologists was rather thorough and almost complete. Not content with wel- coming the Thomasites to Philippine shorcs, psychologists re- traced the Thomasites’ voyage back to North America. Indeed, ‘Alonzo was one of the first to take such a voyage but it is to his credit that in spite of his training, he did not feel compelled to bring home to Manila, as pasalubong, a colony of rats and a maze, He shifted his research and teaching activities from experimental to educational psychology. He cannot be faulted for not directly exploiting his training, In the late 20’s and early | 15840's, the university and the country had a greater need for the application of psychology to educational measurement than asic rescarch on animal Icarning, But looking back, one realizes that while he did not bring his white rats from Ghicago with him, hhe brought something else, something truly precious to Philippine education as handmaiden of colonial policy. Alonzo unwittingly came back from Chicago proficient in American English with psychology. as topic of discourse. To paraphrase and modify Gonstantino (1975) as his ideas apply to the psychological situa- tion: : “The use of English s¢ the medium of insteuetion in psychology made possible the speedy introduction of American-oriented psycho- Jogy and values, With American textbooks in” psychology from ‘Thomdike, Krech, Crutchfield, and Ballachey to Hilgard, Filipinos began learning not only a new psychology but anew eulture, Edtcs- tion became iiseducation. because it began to deFilipinize the Filipino psychologists, aught them to look up to American depart- rents of psychology 2s always years ahead of Philippine counter- pars, to regard American psychology as always superior to theirs End Ametican society a6 the model par excellence for Philippine society. ‘Alas, the first American-trained Filipino experimental psycho: Jogist is better remember for his classes in American-oriented educational psychology with Antonio Isidro and Sinforoso Padilla as students. Among,the students of Alonzo were Silvino Epistola, the writerpphilosopher sought by some and avoided by others for his unsolicited questions and comments in cantecn discussions as well as in public psychology seminars; the young Alfredo V. Lagmay, who later served as chairman of the University of the Philippines psychology department for more than two decades; and the winsome Estefania Aldaba who got her M.A. (Psychology) from the University of the Philippines, Ph.D. (Psychology) from the University of Michigan and much later held the highest posit tion ever held by a psychologist in the Marcos government, that of the Minister of Social Work at the behest of the First Lady Madame Imelda Mareos, Truc enough, the Filipino point of view, Philippine language and culture were able to hold their own at the face of Americanization, then as now. The initial stirrings of 154 conflict and the manifestations of the Great Cultural Divide Fetawen the have's and the haveznots’ could not be ignored by_ the first generation of American-trained Filipino. psychologists ‘of the twenties. The initial entry in the cultural struggle score board was one-all as Alonzo made good his long shot for a relevant Philippine eckicational psychology but at the same time scoring tor American English. It was for Manuel Carreon to make a follow- up attempt for the Filipino in the area of psychological measure ment. ‘Manuel Carreon: A Call for Relevance in Psychological ‘Measurement ‘The current Philippine objection to the uncritical importation of Western psychological models is at least sixty years old. Thi credit for the first attempt at indigenous psychological test dev- clopment goes to Sinforoso Padilla who took over from Alonzo the position of psychology chairman at the University of the Philippines, However, his tcaching and administrative duties kept his hands full, so to speak, Tt was his articulate and prolific col- league, Manuel Carreon, who took the cudgels for appropriate an relevant psychological testing. In 1926, Carreon published i New York his Ph.D. dissertation’ entitled Philippine Studies @ Mental Measurement, His motivation for writing the book, his thesis and arguments were valid, but as a faithful colonial he committed the mistake of writing in English, To think that hi psychological writing could have shared the fate of its litera counterparts in the native language. Copies of the Malaya, Ilang- Tang, and Sinag-Tala sold briskly at 5c 2 copy. Not to mention the popular and durable Liwayway and Bulaklak, which were available then as now in the streets of Manila, weathering ‘American colonial administration, a World War, the Japane Occupation, student activism, Martial Law, the closure of the “We Forum,” the assassination of Benigno Aquino and all. For his mistake Carreon paid dearly. Copies of his book were not shelv with other books on psychological testing but instead landed the Filipiniana section of the university libraries in America and the Philippines, A librarian unwittingly wields a lot of power, for by classifying a book as Filipiniana he dooms it to limited reader- 155ship. A reader of Gartcon’s book at the Northwestern University library rewarded Carrcon’s effort to communicate in English with an unsigned remark on page margin castigating his poor mastery of the language of his colonial masters. If Alonzo was blessed with a Governor-General Harrison and the policy of “Filipinization;” Carreon was less lucky with Harrison's successor in the person of a certain Major-General Leonard Wood who believed that the Filipinos were not “prepared for independence and that it would require much more time and experience before they could prove worthy of America’s trust.” (Agoncillo, 1974). Perhaps, Carreon was born at the wrong time, with the right ideas, He should have written for Liwayway instead. In a manner of speaking, nobody listened to him, Educationists and guidance counsellors went ahead and merrily administered psychological {esis developed in America to unsuspecting respondents in a language hardly mastered by them, Some understood part of Carreon’s message and modified items in tests to fit Philippine conditions and got to be satisfied with what was later known as the “‘change-apples-to-bananas” approach to improve test validity: an approach to Philippine psychological testing which held sway from the time Hartendorp studied the correlation between breast size and the intelligence of Filipinas up to the present rush: to test Filipino workers to certify that they are psychologically fit for work in the deserts of Saudi Arabia, Culture works in strange ways, the Filipino banquet table still includes the end-of-the-year holiday apples from Wisconsin. ‘or China, It is easier to speak than to act, Who would dare touch the apple in the traditional lechon’s mouth? Thanks to the de- valuation of the Philippine peso as a reaction to political develop- ments after the Aquino assassination, luxury fruits including apples are now totally banned in the Philippines, However, know- ing Filipino psychology, nothing is ever totally banned in the Philippines. Even the traffic sign which says “stop'’ merely means “slow down and look both ways” in the Philippines. The balik- bayan ot returning resident from the U.S. can still bring in apples if he pays the token sum of P30 per box, One wonders what ‘Alberto Florentino meant when he wrote “The Worldis an Apple.” 156 Isidoro Panlasigui: Identifying with the New Culture — From Apalachicola to Boogaloo ‘The third generation of American-trained Filipino psycholo- gists as typified by Panlasigui completely forgot the horrors of Balangica, Samar and proudly identified with the “Protestant churches, schools and colleges; the concept of democracy; the structure and practices of [American colonial] educational system and government; Baguio City and the zig-zag road; the American dollar; our (italics mine) economic and industrial system; the ‘American sports — baseball, basketball, tennis, golf, etc.”” (Pan- lasigui, 1962). Panlasigui’s admiration for Mother America showed clearly even as he wrote about the psychology of the Filipino and as he argues for the colonial language. On the basis of a quotation from HG, Wells, Panlasigui was quick to remind us that “the language of the conquered may be adopted by the conqueror or vice versa.”” He considered it a boost to Philippine national dignity to be “culturally classified with the great natives of the Americas and Europe,” and so happily quoted Hayes (1937) (in Panlasigui, 1962): ee ee eee tho Auer atlenr Set eee ens wea New as eae Sco Atteyaad he Sinn wl Piping ones el ang in he en wm ar ope on re ge rc cheer eee ae esr ir epee Selec perworen wis Eure The awesome task of Americanizing the Filipino psychologist was therefore completed in the person of Isidoro Panlasigui, intellectually and emotionally. But Panlasigui was not without ‘opponents. A good attitudiial arch-enemy for him was Manuel L, Quezon who wanted a Philippine National Language pethaps even at the expense of the colonial language. The most memorable quotation from Quezon is of course his fiery “T would rather have @ government run like hell by Filipinos than a government run like heaven by Americans.” Quezon can have his “Filipino govern- 157ment” so: long as Panlasigui can listen to Anita Bryant's. “Paper Roses,” dance the American boogaloo which replaced the Latin apalachicola, wear his Americana, enjoy hotdogs and ice cream, cte., ete., (c.f. Colonialism in the Philippines, Panlasigui, (1962): (65-76). : Panlafigui’s contribution. to “Philippiie psychology can. of course not be found in Elementary Statistics, Educational Mea surement and Evaluation (1951) which was really a lengthy description of-how to compute the Correlation coefficient but in his mote authentic Ti Agtutubo [19-7] and Ti Ubing (1916). His successor as chairman of the University of the Philippines psychology department, Alfredo V. Lagmay was touched by the reavakening of Filipino-nationalism in the early 1950's but somehow Panlasigui was spared. Alfredo V. Lagmay: The meeting of East and West With 2 background in Philosophy from a department steeped in Logical Positivism and staunchly against the secretarianism foisted by the Catholics through the then powerful University of the Philippines Student Catholic Action (UPSCA), Alfredo V. Lagmay was ostensibly sent to the United States on a fellowship precisely to weaken the U.P. Department of Philosophy led by an articulite, charismatic and controversial agnosticsphilosopher, Ricardo Pascual, Lagmay’s colleagues in the department were also sent abroad not in order to strengthen the Philosophy depart- ment but to neutralize it. Ruben SantosCuyugan was sent to study Soviology; Jose Encarnacion, Jr., was sent to study Eco- nomics; and Alfredo V. Lagmay went for Psychology to Harvard where he trained with B.F. Skinner in Experimental Psychology. Lagmay came back to the Philippines at 2 time of. peasant unrest in Central Luzon; the Hukbalakap Movement was active under-the leadership of Luis Taruc. The University of the Philip- pines Department of Psychology was administratively part of the College of Education, thus giving psychology an applied educa- tional perspective. Lagmay’s first move was to transfer the depart- ment to the College of Liberal Arts thus transforming the applied 158 educational perspective to a basic scientific orientation, He chaired the department for two decades thus witnessing historical develop- ments such as the Magsaysay campaign to pacify the Hukbalahaps, the government inspired resettlement of Northerners to Mindanao under the slogan “land for the landless,” the resurgence of na- tionalism under the leadership of Claro M. Recto, President Carlos Garcia's Filipino First policy, President Diosdado Maca- pagal’s Maphilindo (a Southeast Asian regionalism which ante- dates ASEAN), and President Ferdinand Marcos’ suspension of ‘the writ of habeas corpus and the subsequent declaration of Mat. tial Law, Across all those-eventful years, Lagmay as psychology chairman of the’ most prestigious Philippine university charted a direction for psychology in the country. He argued for experi- ‘mental psychology even if his colleagues at the College of Educa- tion raised their eyebrows at the mention of a sciencc-oriented psychology. He succeeded, for Experimental Psychology is now an integral part of the undergraduate psychology curricula in Philippine schools, He did not quite succeed in promoting be- havior analysis in the Skinnerian tradition for even to date, the said course is not offered in a good number of Philippine colleges and universities, Just the-same, Lagmay is better known as “Skin. nerian” and the U.P. Department of Psychology was perceived as behavioral in orientation from the 50's to the early 70's. ‘Lagmay's students include: Fe Abasolo-Domingo who did the classic study on child-rearing in Barrio Cruz-na-Ligas under Lag- may's advisorship} Abraham Felipe who studied the psychology of popular Tagalog short stories before proceeding to Yale for his Ph.D. in Social Psychology followed by his assuming the con- current. position of President of Funds for Assistance to Private Education and Deputy Minister of Education; the second highest position a psychologist held under the Marcos government; Robert Lawless who wrote an iticisive review of Personality and Culture Studies in the Philippines with Lagmay as adviser in the Asian Studies Program; and Elizabeth Ventura who investigated the stimulus characteristics of the Philippine Thematic Apperception Test 159‘The Sikolohiyang Pilipino Perspective The new consciousness, labelled Stholohiyang Pilipino re flecting Filipino psychological knowledge, has emerged through the use of the local language as a tool for the identification and rediscovery of indigenous concepts and as an appropriate medium for the delineation and articulation of Philippine realities hand in hand with the development of a scicntific literature which embodies the psychology of the Filipino people, A cursory cxam- Ination of the Filipino language provides a basis for proposing Sikolohiyang Pilipino as the study of diwa (“psyche”), which in Filipino direcdy refers to the wealth of ideas referred to by the philosophical concept of “essence” and an entire range of psycho- Togical concepts from awateness to motives to behaviour, In a paper for the University of the Philippines Psychological Society on the occasion of Psychology Week in 1974, Sikolo- héyang Pilipino was explained through a metaphor: a characteris: ‘tic way of clarifying concepts in the Asian manner. Attention was called to the difference between a “person in the house” (tao sa bahay) and a “*house person” (taong-bahay). A “person in the hhouse”” may be someone who just passed by, a visitor who is not voluntarily or necessarily interested in staying there. But a “house person” (taong-bahay) has a role and a meaning in that house so he is there. Sikolohiyang Pilipino is like a “house person” as it focuses on indigenous development in the field of psychology from the Filipino perspective. It is most commonly understood to mean the psychology of the Filipino — his character, his values and his paninindjgan or principles. But more importantly and precisely Sikolohiyang Pilipino refers to psychological theory, Knowledge, method and application developed through the Fili- pino culture as basis (Enriquez, 1974). Ventura (1980) summarized this orientation thus: ‘A reader of Philippine psychology literature will immediately note that the decade of the seventies was marked by 2 concern for indigenization, 2 recognition of language as a basic variable in personality, social psychology and testing, a broadening of the data 160 base of Filipino psychology through a concern for studying indivi- duals in their natural social setting rediscovering of the ties of Filipino psychology with other fields of study, and greazerinvolve- ‘ment, on 2 nation-wide level, of Filipino social scientist in the evelopment of the literature of Filipino psychology. In the Univer- ‘of the Philippines Department of Psychology, the interest for digenization brought about researchers on Philippine psyche- linguistics, Filipino ‘concepts and cognition, and razster’ theses Which ucllized languages as a major variable (Ventura, 1973, Lazo, 1974, Alfonso, 1974), Along with this recognition of the im- porsance of language came a consciousness of the limitations and sometimes emptiness of Western theories and methods, Students became more citieal about the Wester orientation in research and in the classroom, Mangulabnan (1977) referred to this as‘ she: todong angatpatong” diterarlly, “'lftpile” method) and apdy dleseribed the uncritical acceptance and use of Western theories and strategies. Coincident with this conscious effort to wean Siko: lobiyeng Pilipino Szom its colonial mooring was the development ‘of local, innovative methods and the explication of culturally relevant concepts, Pakapartapa (literally “ groping”) as 3 field method (Santiago, 197) together with pogtazam ong-tanong (liverally “asking questions” or “ questioning”) (Gonzales, 1980) was clabo- rated upon and put to use, Other culturally relevant research meth- ‘os and techniques such as pakikizamdams ( shared sensitivities’), ‘pakikialam (“concerned interference"), pakikilahok (“participation ‘a onewitheheothen"), pakifisonghor (integral involvement”), and pagdalawdelaw (\cisual but repeated visits") were utilized in social psychology and personality studies, Sevilla (1978) provides ‘a wellswritten and positive review of the first studies done with such methods, As she points out in her article, 4 Filipino psychologist with a Westen orientation would have to completely reverse his ~ research style and framework in order to be able ro utilize these methods t0 thei fallest Sikolohiyang Pilipino, as a perspective, urges the Filipino psychologist to confront social problems and national issues as pact of his responsiblity. Cipres-Ortega (1980) reported a ferment Jn its earliest stage of development, Issues considered in Sikolo hhiyang Pilipino’s incipient stage include the question of which language must be used in psychological research, teaching and publication: Pilipino or Filipino. Choosing between P and F becomes trivial, once the language issue gets to be resolved as a matter of choosing between a multilanguage based 31-letter alphabet and a Tagalog based 20-letter abakada. Such a choice is 161definitely simpler than choosing between a colonial and an indi- genous language. The language issue stirred nationalistic sentic ments in Manila’s college corridors and triggered feverish debate in the 1971 Constitutional Convention, In the meanwhile, the ational lingua franca was slowly being forged by the man-on-the- reet, in his day-to-day transactions. For the Filipino social scientist, the choice after all was not between a P and an F but between the language of the man-on-thestrect and a colonial unguage. Sikolohiyang Pilipino chose what Sicat (1976) later led the “living Filipino language”. A second concern also reported by Cipres-Ortega (1980) has to do with the delineation of the “Filipino” in Filipino psycho- logy. “Filipino” may refer to the mainstream urbanised Manileto the “unsophisticated” provinciano. The word “Filipino” con- i the image of one who belongs to a major cthnic group but ‘one from a minority group is just as Filipino, Samson (1965) therefore referred to “psychologies” of Filipinos because of the ‘cultural and ethnic diversity of the Filipino people. ‘The issue of ethnic diversity may seem primarily political but its implication as basis to the development of psychological theory and research cannot be overlooked. After all, reference to cultural distinctions within Filipino society does not imply a fragmented Philippine society. Rather, the distinctions in the culture of the people provide a challenge to psychological research and a rich base for a truly national culture. The theme of the sixth annual Pambansang Samehan sa Sikolohiyang Pilipino convention held jn Legaspi, Albay was precisely on the contributions of ethnic consciousness to Filipino psychology. While excitement regarding language and cultural hetero- neity may bring to fore volatile socio-political problems, the on for professionalization, social problems and universality hhas brought about issues which have stirred professional and demic circles and caused intellectual flurries at the Loyola ights and Diliman. A genuine concem for professional growth id commitment to psychology as a discipline fostered unity despite attitudinal and theoretical differences. Licuanan (1979) 162 sees Filipino psychologists as socially and politically uncontro- vversial. She asks: Is it because we don't take strong stands? But we do! We do feel very scrongly about certain things. At our conventions, in the class- room, in our writing and even in-foreign meetings we cake strong positions and call cach other names such as “ Westemn-ofiented psychologists” or Bthaviorist”. Always of course within the bounds of pakikspagkapus-tao or is it pakikisema? We have feuds between behaviorists and humanists that have spanned generations. We have issues such as indigenous vs. western, scientific vigor ws. kaparkapa, ‘verbal vs, nonverbal ress. Yes, we do take strong stands but pereps cour passion is wasted on each other. We have our inhouse bates ‘while outside, the Philippines wages a war ageinst poverty, against underdevelopment, against the many problems of education, hous- ing, graft and corruption, multinational corporations, population, It takes a Socrates to choose a human being dissatisfied over a beast satisfied, but must the Filipino contend with a borrowed consciousness in exchange for a full meal? While recognizing Sikolohiyang Pilipino as an attempt at conceptual and methodo- logical improvement, Licuanan’s test of psychology’s worth as a discipline somehow manages to exclude an appreciation of the link between colonization and poverty. A decolonized psycho- logy can inspire but who needs inspiration on an empty stomach? She explains: : 1 do not mean to undevalue ous attempts at developing psycho- logical theories and concepts and at improving our methodology. "These are vitally necessary for our survival as «discipline. But t do believe very strongly that our true worth as a discipline les in how ‘we are able to help solve the problems of our country today. 1 am sincere when I say that the concept of Rapua is very exciting and even inspiring. But how 1 wish . . . Rapwa could feed all the hungry Filipinos, house them and give them the education they deserve (Lieuanan, 1979). . Philippine psychology’s colonial character as a captive of an ‘American-dominated, English-speaking world is one of Sikolo- ‘hiyang Pilipino’s major areas of protest. Psychology as a westert- oriented discipline is supposed to be partial to universal findings, 163( “generalizability” and extemal validity. The scientific character psychology is accepted by Siholohivang Pilipino but its unives- sality is" questioned by the Filipino as it is being questioned elsewhere (eg. in Mexico by Rogelio Disz-Guerrero, 1977), The story of psychology as it has evolved in the Westem tradition be interpreted as moving towards the goal of a truly universal chology. Unfortunately, psychology is stil [Link] that goal in spite of over a hundred years of scientific rescarch reckoned from the time Wundt established g laboratory of psychology in Leipzig, Germany in 1879, Universality must be the motive behind the series of systema- tically replicated experiments from pigeons to humans; from the laboratory to the field, To be sure, academic psychologists are no. longer contented with sophomore students from. the univer- sities, they’ are now equally interested’ in minority and other cthnic groups. Filipino psychologists have~ gone beyond the convenience of captive university classes and air-conditioned Makati offices; they have themselves gone to the field, Some went to the South to Muslim Mindanao, Just like their colfeagues in anthropology, the psychologist, Filipino or otherwise, would now casionally face the discomfort of mud huts and mosquitoes. researcher interested in Maranao psychology once intimated tin the Southern Philippines, if the mosquitoes don't get the yychologist, the dissidents will. This development has its parallel jn the international scene since mote and more countries say ee 1977).However, while is development may not always be welcomed socio-politically, it is probably 2 turing point in the growth of Westerm-oriented ;chology for the data base of Westemoriented psychology is yw broader. It should be stressed however, that a broader base is far from adequate in assuring a universal psychology unless {ternative perspectives from non-Western psychologies are put to e. In fact, there is a need to rewrite the history of psychology " due consideration to Asian experience and perspectives. Regardless of differing theoretical persuasions, Filipino psy: chologists generally recognize the importance of cultural validi- tion, Only the eager exponents,of the “latest” theories and ap- 164 proaches gathered from short term visits abroart would imme diately apply their newly-acquired techniques without regard for the problems of adaptation. Respect for cultural validation was slow in coming for many of what Bulatao alliteratively identified “pious pupils of Piaget”, “dating disciples of Drucker” and ‘fervent followers of Freud”, Even the “scientific students of Skinner” had to be chided. ‘AL present the typical psychology depactment in che Third ‘World sports collection of psychology books and journals, ninecy- five percent of which comes ftom the Westem world, Since the Dbehavioral research they contain have been mostly on Western subjects, there rises un obligation to put a sign chat read something like this: “The Philippine Minister of Eduesrion and Culture has certified that the bebavioral conclusions of these articles are true of the American population but aot necessarily true for Filipinos. Readers should bevrate for their intellectual health,” Of course, che scientific students of Skinner have one advantage. Being much devoted to the laboratory they are more familiar with experimental eta than their bookbound brothers, Furthermore, [locally raised] pigeons differ less from American pigeons than their human counter- ‘parts, (we suppoted), But is it not possible now further to declare their independence from the interests apd instrumentation of the United States? Having once learned scientific methodology, should ‘hey not now apply this methodology and ereate instruments to answer questions chat face 1 developing nation, such as té formulate leaming strategies suited to the Filipino or to stabilizing behivior therapy workable at the out-patient clinic of the Philippine General Hospital (Bulatzo, 19792). Sikolohiyang Pilipino as a subject was instituted and offered for the first time at the undergraduate level at the University of the Philippines in 1978. At home with a new consciouness, Jose Ma, Bartolome, who first taught the course, was painfully aware of the slow pace of theoretical reorientation especially with a class of undergraduate juniors and seniors who enrolled in this course as an elective hoping to find a teacher ready to deliver a dissertation on the psychology, values and behaviour of the Filipino only to find that the course was meant for psychology. majors who must be shown the scope and limits of a psychology based on the Filipino culture and experience. The problem of thcoretical reorientation as reported by Atal (1979) is still being 165sorted out by Bartolome and his colleagues at the University of the Philippines department of Political Science and St. Scholas- tica’s College: “ while thre is too much iconoclastic tak about the domination of alien models and theories and thefeinapproprateness, there is very litde to commend as respectable replacements, Along with severe exticsm of the so-aled capitalist" status quoist,* west- ern", American "soda scence, one may come across writings that ery enthusiastically prescribe * Marrs as an altemative. Efforts ae stil nceded to test the proclaimed universality of established Theories and models in a vatiety of settings. [tis not so much a replacement that i really needed if one wants vo pursue the goal of 4 universal science ~ and not of secting up schools of thought”, Tike sees cresting a priesthood and a blind following. Such genuine efor thae go beyond reactive sapsodies are ere to find (Ata, 1979), Atal recognized that some effort is being made citing as an example the work of the Pakistani economist, Mahbub UL Haq who reconsidered basic premises of a development paradigm earned at Harvard and Yale thus allowing a reformulation of strategy. Unresolved theoretical issues did not deter Bartolome’s students from integrating selected rescarch studies on Filipino ‘psychology even if it meant including AteneoPC studies viewed as “American’” social science by David (1977) and others. Armed with a history of personal involvement in the develop- ment of the theoretical underpinnings of Sikolokiyang Pilipino and with the confidence of one who had concrete experience with the actual application of indigenous methods, Rogelia Pe-Pua took ‘off where Bartolome left. Pe-Pua faced the problems of axticu. lating the concepts and methods of Filipino psychology head-on with a book entitled Sikolohiyang Pilipino: Teorya, Metodo at Gamit (Filipino Psychology: Theory, Method & Application) (1982). For the first time, a compilation of papers on Filipino psychology is made available for student use, The compilation is in English and Filipino thus reflecting the language situation in the Philippine academic setting. English is still dominant in aca- deme but Filipino has emerged as the language of the educated Filipino of the seventies. 166 Sikolohiyeng Pilipino as a theoretical perspective has finally come to print in textbook form instead of in isolated articles thus satisfying the form-oriented “scholar” that perhaps there is a basis to the indigenous psychology movement. The form of arti culation is not a measure of validity but the mystique of the print- ed word, especially if in English and imported from the U.S.A., still enthralls the captive Filipino psychologist. ‘The growth of the Sikolohiyang Pilipino literature in the cighties would give one the fecling that the Filipino language is making up for lost time in the discipline of psychology. Since the publication of Pe-Pua’s book at least three psychology theses were written by non-Tagalogs in the Filipino language thus dis- puting the mistaken belief that Filipino is the preserve of Tagalogs, Mario San Buenaventura, while fluent in the language of as, Albay, wrote his thesis on the “Philosophical Basis of Siko- lohiyang Pilipino” in the Filipino language (Mga Batayang Pilo- sopikal ng Sikolohiyang Pilipino) in 1988. On the basis of bis thesis and Pe-Pua’s book, Exhibit A outlines the major charac- teristics of Sikolohiyang Pilipino as an indigenous Asian psycho- logy. Another non-Tagalog, Patricia de Peralta, a native of Laoag, Mocos Norte, contributed to the literature of Sikolohiyang Pilipino in the Filipino language on the topic of Hocano folk stories, Ma. ‘Angeles Guanzon’s thesis on the Panukat ng Ugali at Pagkatao was also written in Filipino. Fr, Jaime Bulatao’s fear of ‘Tagalog imperialism” and Brother Andrew Gonzales favorite quotation ‘on being colonized by ones own people as he insinuates “Tagalog imperialism” should end as an unfounded fear and as inappro- priate quotation in so far as Sikolohiyang Pilipino is concerened: ‘Ma. Angeles Guanzon is Bikolana. The philosophical position of Sikolohiyang Pilipino turns the problem of regionalism and language diversity in the Philippines into an advantage. Ethnic diversity and consciousness enriches, national culture and helps define the Filipino psyche. It is perhaps ‘a happy co-incidence that the majority of the contributors to the Sikolohiyang Pilipino literature are in fact non-Tagalogs. The same ‘observation holds for psychologists who pioneered in the teaching ‘of psychology in Filipino, 167pes ee i ei EXHIBIT A. MAJOR CHARACTERISTICS OF SIKOLORTVANG PrLiPENO 'AS AN INDIGENOUS ASIAN PSYCHOLOGY a eae ee Nee ae ae oe peer ee i ea ae ee a eee ce ee oe ee eae ae Se See ‘once wit lt paleangtc ehige baboyneflna cgrs een eee See so aaa ee cee ee eee [oer eee aoe _ ae ee phenomenalogy, Thomisic philosophy es ile om Pos Slgeny A Tne Mead Cont (14), Sn amet’ nin ng ane ane (8) ats a ly we) aay Ween ite ae tod one 9 td pa as Rg Set mene ‘Pls nt ip Reach an Tey en 168 “The Changing Pattem of the Eighties: Emergence of Non- ‘American Trained Filipino Psychologists” ‘A change in pattem was promised in the early eighties. Philip- pine trained psychologists started manning the discipline in different institutions. of learning, Ma: [Link] left for Paris and came back fo Manila as the first Filipino to teach Psy- chology in the Philippines after receiving a Ph.D. (Psychology) degree from a non-American University abroad, The emergence of Japan as an Asian economic power was not altogether irrelevant to the enviable approach-approach-conilict faced by del Pilar in choosing between a Mombushu and a Fullbright. However, the American-oriented pattern established in two generations cannot be changed overnight. General Gregorio del Pilar’s grandnephew and namesake “‘chose” to go to Washington, D.C. Similarly, the heavy hands, or call it “informed judgment”, of the National Intelligence and Security Agency of the Philippines prevented the departure to Moscow of Danilo Tuazon for advaneed training in physiological psychology. A Russian scholarship was not enough. Moscow must wait. Aside from the language and culture barticrs which Tuazon agreed to hurdle, a political barrier to the development of Philippine psychology proved to be formidable. Assurances of getting a Russian visa was useless without a Philip- pine exit permit, The fear of repatriating an undesirable ideology. outweighed the possibility of “smuggling a Bible across Russian immigration authorities” granting Patricia B. Licuanan’s percep- tion of Tuazon as the U.P. Department of Psychology “theologian- vresidence.” Alas, the change in pattern promised in the carly eighties might remain a promise. Prospects for the Nineties The writ of habeas corpus was suspended in the carly seventies and martial law was declared shortly after. Filipinos from all walks of life, academics, student leaders, laborers, were affected in varying degrees by the New Order. Physicists, historians, political scientists, waiters and joumalists alike were detained for political reasons but it was business as usual for psychologists — as though they were the most apolitical among the academics and the pro- 169fesionals. Psychology conventions were not bereit of heated discussions on social issues but somehow psychologists were noncommittal on the martial law regime. At the very least not ‘one among the psychologists were visibly against the Marcos government, The death of Aquino at the airport tarmac changed all that, Concerned psychologists joined the Makati businessmen in rallies of protest. Once more the anti-colonial stance received an added boost as artists demanded freedom of expression and the national Janguage movement reiterated its position against Engli colonial language, The painful awareness of the unwanted pre- sence of American military bases on Philippine soil was felt with greater intensity. Prior to that painful day in August, 1983, the Philippines as a country and psychology as a profession and academic discipline ‘were both gearing for the nineties with optimism, Five concrete moves which may still find full realization were in the offing in the psychology scene, First, the Pederasyon ng mga Magaaral sa Sikolohiya or PsychFed, a federation of psychology student organizations was finally in operation after three years of un- successful attempts at getting established. Co-operative exchange among undergraduate psychology students from various institu. tions augured well for the growth and development of Philippine. psychology. Second, the Psychology Act of 1982 was introduced by As- semblyman Ronado Zamora to the Batasang Parabansa to regulate the practice of psychology as an autonomous and responsible profession in the Philippines. The act aims to govern the certifica- tion of psychometricians and the licensure of psychologists. The bread and butter implications of the Psychology Act are found in Section 9(g) of Parliamentary Bill No. 2996: ‘The Board for Cerftication of Psychometicians and Licensing of Prychologists shall: , .. (g) Coordinate with the Ministry of Labor and Employment and other government agencies so that no person 170 should be granted permission to work overseas, act as security gusrd, or hold firearms, explosives or chemicals dangerous to public safety Junless he has submitted a clearance of his psychological assessment from a duly registered and licensed peychalogist. ‘Third, the National Institute of Psychology, as a national centre for advanced training and research in psychology was proposed, Tt was envisioned to have three departments: 1) the Department of Psychology to take care of graduate instruction in seven divisions within the department — Experimental Psychology, Personality and Developmental Psychology, Social and Industrial Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Educational Psychology and Philippine Psychology; 2) an Office of Research and Publication; and 8) an office of Extension Services. Fourth, the Akademya ng Sikolohiyang Pilipino was s- tablished to further develop and strengthen the Philippine Psycho- logy Research and Training House. The Akademya aims to pro- mote a competent and relevant Philippine social science. The major thrust of the Akademya is still primarily to conduct studies on Filipino behavior and psychology, Filipino personality, Philip: pine Tanguage, culture and history by using appropriate and culturally relevant theory and methodology. The Akademya is not exclusively manned by psychologists. It includes historians, artists and scientists in its staff based on the avowed belief that the Filipino psyche is too important to leave in the hands of psychologists alone. Finally, but not the least significant, an intriguing redefinition of psychology in the Philippine setting is foreboded by an in- creasing interest among Filipino psychologists in the arts. Nothing definitive has surfaced as yet and it is early to assess the signifi- cance of this development in the carly eighties. Perhaps the therapeutic and liberating characteristics of the creative process shall be delineated ot pethaps the Asian soul will be rediscovered. Sining Sikolohtyang Pilipino is an organizational venue for psycho- ogists in the arts and was launched in 1983 as an upshot of the Marawi Conference on the Filipino personality and the Indigchous Arts. Drama, music, dance and the visual arts lend a new excite: ‘ment to psychologists as the artists exchanged views with them. 17More importantly, the new surge of interest changes the image of the psychologist himself and pethaps even his identity. After all, one ean argue that: We take a scep towards art not in order to avoid psychology but precisely in order to approach its very core.” REFERENCES Agoncillo, Teodoro 1974 Filipino Nationalism 1872-1970. Quezon Cit RP. Garcia Publishing Co. 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